# Don't frighten the livestock

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-frighten-the-livestock/941296>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 3, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-frighten-the-livestock/941296 "2021-05-03T15:28:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-frighten-the-livestock/941296/1 "2021-05-03T15:28:58Z")

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I’m trying to remember a saying I’ve heard in the past. It has to do with the idea that what you do in your personal life is your own business as long as you don’t frighten the livestock or startle granny or something like that. I’ve tried googling, but all I get is a bunch of stories about cougars and bears attacking livestock. Also, one pretty cool story about a young man in Kenya who invented a system of lights to protect his family’s cattle from lions. If anyone can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

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**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-frighten-the-livestock/941296/2 "2021-05-03T15:55:53Z")

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The version I heard was “as long as they don’t do it in the street and scare the horses”, which I found attributed to [actress Beatrice Campbell.](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mrs_Patrick_Campbell)

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**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-frighten-the-livestock/941296/3 "2021-05-03T20:06:05Z")

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That’s got to be it, thanks. I probably would have had more luck in my search if I would have narrowed it down to one species.

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**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-frighten-the-livestock/941296/4 "2021-05-03T22:31:25Z")

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I’ve got to say that: “as long as you don’t frighten the livestock” is arbitrarily a funnier way to phrase it.

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**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2021, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-frighten-the-livestock/941296/5 "2021-05-05T05:04:52Z")

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“… frighten the horses” was a common phrase thrown about in in my rural upbringing used several contexts, from boisterous kids (you’re making enough noise to …) to adolescents playing silly buggers (try not to … ). But never in the context of consenting adult behaviour.